'Speed dating for business': New Indigenous-led forum strives to make connections

A two-day forum taking place in Thunder Bay, Ont., aims to make connections betweenFirst Nations from across northern Ontario and businesses in a wide range of sectors.

The event is a partnership between the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association a northwestern Ontario-based not-for-profit formed in March that advocates for, and provides services to, Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs and Advanced Business Match, a Tla'amin Nation, B.C.-based company that holds specialized business matching forums in Canada and the U.S.

For Jason Rasevych, the president of the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association and a member of Ginoogaming First Nation, providing a way to bring almost 100 delegates from northern Ontario's Indigenous communities to meet with business representatives in fields as diverse as mining, energy, transportation and others, is crucial to making sure communities benefit fullyfrom business activities in their territories.

"Logistically, for communities to be invited to Bay Street in Toronto to the financial district, it's costly," he said. "They can't always bring everybody out there to go out west to meet with companies out there that are operating in Alberta or B.C., it's expensive."

"Bringing companies here to the north helps them get familiar with ... not only the environment in the area but the actual people and it's very important for Anishinawbe people to have a face-to-face approach when building trust and starting to build a relationship."

The forum operates something like "speed dating for business," Rasevych said, and consists of a number of 15-minute sessions between community representatives and businesses which they are interested in meeting and holding discussions with.

Some of the First Nations taking part include Ginoogaming, Long Lake 58, Nibinamik, Onigaming, Pays Plat and Wunnumin Lake, organizers said.

"A lot of what is happening now is big opportunity for communities to take advantage, to direct procurement processes and policies and also participate within projects that are happening within our traditional territories," Rasevych said in his opening remarks to assembled delegates Tuesday morning.

"A lot of that is tied to traditional lands of First Nations in the north," he continued. "For a long time, we've seen a lot of projects come and go where communities haven't been able to capitalize."

It's about making sure First Nations are best poised to succeed, he said.

"We're tired of ... companies saying 'we didn't know an Indigenous business existed,' or 'we didn't know where a First Nation community was located,'" Rasevych said during the forum's opening ceremonies.

"Today, we're changing the narrative for First Nations in northern Ontario."